10 News Investigators: Political donations from athletes

TAMPA BAY, Fla. -- With Florida's biggest day on the political calendar coming just days away from the biggest day on the football calendar, the 10 News Investigators analyzed the relationship between sports and political contributions.

Focusing on public campaign documents gathered from local, state, and federal offices, the Investigators put together a database of more than 400 political contributions. Included in the data are donations from Tampa Bay athletes, coaches, team owners, and front office executives.

While former Tampa Bay stars like Warren Sapp, Dave Andrychuk, and Wade Boggs have all made contributions to local politicians, it has been members of the Bucs who have dominated the donating in recent years.

Among local athletes, no player gave more since 2007 than Derrick Brooks, who sent two $2,400 donations (federal maximum) to Charlie Crist's senatorial campaign. Other prominent sports figures who gave matching donations to Crist include Bucs owner Bryan Glazer, Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg, and Rays president Matt Silverman.

The biggest portion of teams' and executives' donations often go toward Political Action Committees (PACs), which can easily combine donations on a large scale and wield leverage. PACs also lobby legislators on a number of issues of interest to their donors.

Both the Rays ($50,000) and Buccaneers ($57,800) made large donations to Moving Hillsborough Forward, the PAC dedicated to building support for the light rail referendum in 2010.

The ownership of the Rays and Bucs also have sent tens of thousands of dollars in recent years to their respective leagues' PACs, the Major League Baseball Commissioner's Office PAC and National Football League PAC.